A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) claims that the risk of being exposed to COVID-19 indoors remains high in spite of social distancing and wearing masks. The researchers concluded that exposure 

“Social distancing inside at 60 feet is no safer than at 6 feet — and exposure time indoors is actually far more important,” the study states. 

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This research by MIT professors Martin Z. Bazant and John W.M. Bush challenges the ‘6-feet’ rule adapted since March 2020. 

“We argue there really isn’t much of a benefit to the 6-foot rule, especially when people are wearing masks. It really has no physical basis because the air a person is breathing while wearing a mask tends to rise and comes down elsewhere in the room so you’re more exposed to the average background than you are to a person at a distance,” CNBC quoted Bazant. 

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The researchers calculated exposure risk to the virus based on factors such as the amount of time spent inside, air filtration and circulation, according to the study. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, the study also looked at factors such as mask use, immunization and respiratory activity. 

The conclusion Bazant and Bush came up with was that time one spends indoors with an infected person is far more important than the distance one maintains.

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Bazant further challenged the assumed advantages of wearing a mask. 

“It really has no physical basis because the air a person is breathing while wearing a mask tends to rise and comes down elsewhere in the room so you’re more exposed to the average background [air],” he told CNBC.

According to him, spaces don’t need to be shut down. Even at full capacity, the only requirement is regulating the time spent together. 

The result of this study comes as the world count is nearing 150 million.